The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary direct election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2022, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $7,080,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, and workforce development programs. This bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the June 7, 2022, statewide primary election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development for the purpose of advocating for the causes of small business and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace. This bill, the Keep California Working Act, would establish the Keep California Working Grant Program. The act would require the Small Business Advocate to administer the program and award grants, as specified, to small businesses and nonprofit entities that meet specified criteria, including that the entity has experienced economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The act would specify that grant money awarded pursuant to the program may be used only for specified purposes, including payroll costs, health care benefits, paid sick, medical, or family leave, and insurance premiums. The act would appropriate $2.6 billion dollars to the Office of Small Business Advocate for those purposes. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax law, generally define "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provide various exclusions from gross income. This bill would exclude from gross income, for state income tax purposes, the amount of a grant awarded pursuant to the Keep California Working Grant Program. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill also would include additional information required for a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including substance use disorder services that are delivered through the Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program and the Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery system, subject to utilization controls. For purposes of the Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program, existing law prescribes the maximum allowable rates for services, including individual and group rates for extensive counseling for outpatient drug-free treatment. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill would expand substance use disorder services to include contingency management services as an optional benefit under the Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery system, as specified, subject to utilization controls. The bill would require counties that administer the Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery system to submit a plan to the department that demonstrates readiness to implement contingency management services that are provided to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries through electronic or in-person means and to consult with stakeholders for purposes of developing that plan. The bill would require the department to review and approve the plan. The bill would require the department to issue guidance on the use of contingency management services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who access substance use disorder services under the Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery system. The bill would provide that contingency management services are not a rebate, refund, commission preference, patronage dividend, discount, or any other gratuitous consideration. The bill would authorize the department to establish limits on the number and value of incentives available to Medi-Cal beneficiaries who receive contingency management services, and to implement these provisions by various means, including provider bulletin, without taking regulatory action. The bill would condition the implementation of these provisions to the extent permitted by federal law, the availability of federal financial participation, and the department securing federal approval. The bill would require the department to determine maximum allowable rates for contingency management services, as specified.
Existing law imposes various taxes, including personal income and excise taxes. The California Constitution requires a 23 vote of both houses of the Legislature for the passage of any change in statute that results in any taxpayer paying a higher tax. The California Constitution generally prohibits the total annual appropriations subject to limitation of the state and each local government from exceeding the appropriations limit of the entity of government for the prior fiscal year, adjusted for the change in the cost of living and the change in population, and prescribes procedures for making adjustments to the appropriations limit. This measure would impose an excise tax, payroll taxes, and a State Personal Income CalCare Tax at specified rates to fund comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of every resident of the state, as well as reserves deemed necessary to ensure payment, to be established in statute. The measure would authorize the Legislature, upon an economic analysis determining insufficient amounts to fund these purposes, to increase any or all of these tax rates by a statute passed by majority vote of both houses of the Legislature. This measure would establish the CalCare Trust Fund in the State Treasury and would deposit these tax revenues in the fund for the purpose of funding this health care coverage, cost control system, and reserves, and would authorize the Legislature to appropriate these funds by a statute passed by a majority vote of the membership of both houses. The measure would exclude appropriations of revenues from the CalCare Trust Fund from the limitation on appropriations and from consideration for purposes of educational funding mandated by the California Constitution. This measure would prohibit the above-described provisions from becoming operative until the later operative date of a statute that establishes comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage, a health care cost control system, and necessary reserves, and a statute that establishes the administration, collection, and enforcement of the excise tax, payroll taxes, and a State Personal Income CalCare Tax imposed by the measure.
Existing law establishes the California Workforce Development Board, which assists the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system. The board reports to the Secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Existing law creates various workforce development programs, including the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative and the Social Entrepreneurs for Economic Development Initiative. Existing law establishes an Arts Council in state government to, among other things, promote the employment of artists and those skilled in crafts in both the public and private sector. This bill would enact the California Creative Workforce Act of 2021, to be operative upon appropriation by the Legislature of sufficient funding for its purposes. The purpose of the act would be to establish creative arts workforce development as a state priority and to promote employment and "earn and learn," as defined, job training opportunities for creative workers, among other things. The bill would require the Arts Council, in collaboration with the California Workforce Development Board, to design the program pursuant to specified objectives. The bill would require the council to consult with local government, community nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions, among others, in this effort. The bill would require the council to adopt criteria, guidelines, and policies for the program, which would be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act, and would make this information available to the public. The bill would require the Arts Council, in consultation with the California Workforce Development Board, to oversee and administer the grant program, to be operated and implemented locally or regionally by program grantees. The bill would require the council to specify and set aside funds to be awarded to grantees for earn and learn job training employment opportunities for students who have enrolled or completed a program in the arts, low-income or unemployed creative workers, and others with demonstrated interest in creative work in their communities. Among other things, the bill would require job training employment opportunities for a creative worker to be for no less than 12 months and no more than 24 months and to pay a living wage. The bill would also require the council to specify and set aside funds to be awarded to grantees to create equitable opportunities for career exploration and participation in creative work for individuals and communities who have faced barriers to participation and employment in creative work for specified reasons. The bill would require the council, in consultation with the board, to develop and implement a plan for grant program evaluation and to specify the data to be collected to evaluate program efficacy. The bill would make conforming changes in provisions relating to the council.
(1) Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to implement a unified hazardous waste and hazardous materials management regulatory program, known as the unified program. Existing law requires every county to apply to the secretary to be certified to implement the unified program, and authorizes a city or local agency that meets specified requirements to apply to the secretary to be certified to implement the unified program, as a certified unified program agency, or CUPA. Existing law authorizes a state or local agency that has a written agreement with a CUPA, and is approved by the secretary, to implement or enforce one or more of the unified program elements as a participating agency. Existing law defines "unified program agency," or UPA, to mean the CUPA or its participating agencies, as provided. Existing law requires a business that handles a hazardous material (handler) , or an employee, authorized representative, agent, or designee of the handler, to, upon discovery, immediately report any release or threatened release of a hazardous material, or an actual release of a hazardous substance, as defined, to the UPA and the Office of Emergency Services, as provided. Existing law requires the office to adopt regulations implementing this requirement on or before January 1, 2022. This bill would revise that reporting requirement to require, for regulated facilities, a handler, or an employee, authorized representative, agent, or designee of the handler, to report a release or threatened release of a hazardous material, hazardous waste, or hazardous substance to the UPA and the office immediately upon discovery of the release or threatened release. The bill would require, for unregulated facilities, that reporting to be made upon the discovery of an actual release that results in an emergency response, as defined. The bill would require a handler, or an employee, authorized representative, agent, or their designee, to provide state, city, or county fire or public health or safety personnel and emergency response personnel with access to the handler's facility if there is a release or threatened release of a hazardous material, hazardous waste, or hazardous substance at the facility. (2) Under existing law, whenever a release, spill, escape, or entry of waste occurs, as specified, and the Director of Public Health or the local health officer makes specified determinations as to that waste, the director is authorized to declare a health emergency and the local health officer is authorized to declare a local health emergency in the jurisdiction or any area thereof affected by the threat to the public health. This bill would authorize, without a declaration of a local health emergency, a UPA, if a release, spill, escape, or entry, as described, of a hazardous material, hazardous waste, or hazardous substance occurs, which the UPA, in consultation with the local health officer, reasonably determines poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health due to specified factors, to take specified actions to protect the health and safety of the public, including, among others, issuing an order to the responsible party to immediately suspend or discontinue the activity causing or contributing to the release, spill, escape, or entry of the hazardous material, hazardous waste, or hazardous substance. The bill would preclude the UPA from issuing an order if the release, spill, escape, or entry of a hazardous material, hazardous waste, or hazardous substance falls below a reporting threshold established by the office in any regulation. The bill would require that the UPA support its order with written findings, including evidence of local health officer consultation, and that the order be consistent with criteria developed by UPAs to determine whether an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health has occurred. The bill would provide a responsible party with an opportunity to appeal the order, as provided. (3) Because the bill would make changes to provisions enforced by unified program agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
Existing law imposes various limitations on the emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law assigns the responsibility for controlling vehicular sources of air pollution to the State Air Resources Board. This bill would require the state board, by July 1, 2022, consistent with federal law, to adopt cost-effective and technologically feasible regulations to prohibit engine exhaust and evaporative emissions from new small off-road engines, as defined by the state board. The bill would require the state board to identify and, to the extent feasible, make available funding for commercial rebates or similar incentive funding as part of any updates to existing applicable funding program guidelines to local air pollution control districts and air quality management districts to implement to support the transition to zero-emission small off-road equipment operations.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and sets forth the powers and duties of the department with regard to the implementation and administration of, among other things, projects and programs to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat in the state, including a conservation and mitigation banking program and a regional conservation investment strategy program. Under the conservation and mitigation banking program and the regional conservation investment strategy program, existing law authorizes the creation of credits under certain circumstances that may be used to fulfill legal obligations to mitigate impacts to fish and wildlife. This bill would authorize the department to approve compensatory mitigation credits for wildlife connectivity actions taken under the conservation and mitigation banking program or the regional conservation investment strategy program. In order to receive compensatory mitigation credits from the department under this authority, the bill would require the wildlife connectivity action to meet specified requirements. The bill would authorize a compensatory mitigation credit created under this authority to be used to fulfill, in whole or in part, compensatory mitigation requirements established under any state or federal environmental law, as determined by the applicable local, state, or federal regulatory agency. The bill would authorize the department to adopt guidelines and criteria to aid in the implementation of these provisions and would exempt the development, adoption, or amendment of these guidelines or criteria from the Administrative Procedure Act.
Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses. Existing law authorizes a person holding an on-sale general license, with respect to beer and wine, and any on-sale license, with respect to the particular beverage or beverages mentioned in the license, to exercise the rights and privileges granted by an off-sale beer and wine license. This bill would, until December 31, 2026, authorize the holder of an on-sale license for a bona fide public eating place that has off-sale privileges, or a licensed beer manufacturer, licensed wine manufacturer, or licensed craft distiller that operates a bona fide public eating place at its premises of production, to exercise additional off-sale rights and privileges, subject to specified requirements. In this regard, the bill would authorize the licensee to sell distilled spirits for off-sale consumption for which their license permits on-sale consumption if the beverages are in manufacturer-prepackaged containers, and are ordered and picked up by the consumer. Additionally, the bill would authorize a licensee to sell the alcoholic beverages, except beer, for off-sale consumption for which their license permits on-sale consumption when the beverages are not in manufacturer-prepackaged containers if specified conditions are met, including, among other things, that the beverages be packaged in a container with a secure lid or cap sealed in a manner designed to prevent consumption without removal of the lid or cap by breaking the seal, and the beverages are ordered and picked up by the consumer. The bill would authorize the department to place conditions on a license prohibiting or restricting the licensee's rights granted under this bill, as provided.